THE EDITOR, Sir:
With reference to a May 3 Gleaner front page story "One hundred and eighty thousand ganja users in Jamaica", I am obliged to respond, having spent the last 22 years researching the effects of ganja on the human body, mind and spirit.
Let me first point out that
people who do not smoke ganja are not in a position to make positive or negative statements or contributions about the effects of ganja physically, mentally,
spiritually or otherwise.
Anti-ganja smoking organisations like the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), rise, dare etc., are created and financed not to educate but to promote false information about a herb that is known and
acknoweledged in credible. respectable circles as the safest and most beneficial substance on the planet available for human
consumption and healing.
Numerous studies
Numerous studies including the Canadian LeDain Report 1972, our own Vera Rubin Jamaican study 1970s and Dr. Ronald G. Lampart's fetus study 1986, just to name a few of the more than 150 studies conducted worldwide over the last 60 years by government agencies, universities and colleges, private research organisations and
individuals, concluded that ganja is harmless, and in fact the substance THC when ingested adds nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and anti-toxin agents to the healing, growth and development of body cells and tissues. British scientists have already identified more than 400 of a possible 1,000 beneficial elements in THC.
There is no difference between a 10-year-old and a
60-year-old having the desire for a spliff. The need is spiritual and people of different ages can have the same spiritual needs to be still ... to enter into that secret inner place to commune with the Higher Self.
Be still and know that I am God. Ganja smoking creates that inner stillness and elevates the consciousness to a higher plane. It is not just about smoking. The Internet is loaded with information about ganja's contributions to optimum health and spiritual healing.
As a scientific ganja researcher for more than 22 years, I am asking Sonita Abrahams to provide credible, unbiased scientific data to substantiate her claim that the health effects of ganja use can be devastating depending on factors such as a person's mental, physical and psychological make-up.
The British medical journal is a relic of colonial times and is out of touch with the realities of Afro-centric spiritual evolution.
One of my research subjects, at age 74 having smoked ganja daily for the last 22 years has no desire for hard drugs, shows signs of increase mental
alertness, physical youthfulness, increase creativity and
productivity and a zest for life that is contagious.
Learn the truth
What is needed and is absolutely necessary to make this ganja debate meaningful, educational and final is for paid functionaries to learn the truth about ganja before they expose themselves to ridicule telling lies to our children.
Let me also state that my nine-year observation and casual survey of ganja smokers in Jamaica reveal the following facts; one in three adults over 35 smoke ganja daily. Between 21-35, two out of three smoke ganja daily; 16-21, three out of five; and between 10 and 16, two out of five.
The grand total is more like 1.4 million. This is indeed a
positive cultural enlightenment epidemic being fuelled by the revelations of ganja's positive effects on the mind, especially if the user is ready to enter a
higher state of consciousness.
Ganja is indeed a medical marvel, a culinary enhancer, a relaxant or holy sacrament that opens the door to the inner room where we can feel and commune with the God within us.
If our young children are
having a need to seek guidance and help from the Father by smoking ganja we the parents have failed and must find the answers or solutions within ourselves.
For a thorough understanding about (a) ganja prohibition, (b) ganja as a major factor in spiritual healing, (c) why the United States government is dead set against legalisation or
decriminalisation, and (d) the enormous economic potential of a ganja-based industry in Jamaica, get a copy of Grow Jamaica from your nearest bookstore.
I am, etc.,
REV. LEEROY
James CAMPBELL
P.O. Box 830,
Ocho Rios, St. Ann
